johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 Are there any maps online that show the position of artillery before or during battles? There seem to loads of trench maps showing positions and objectives for infantry but it would be good to see for instance, where the barrage was fired from, and what other targets there were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 Worth searching for "barrage maps" (complete with inverted commas) in Advanced Search there may be a few examples? The Official History maps sometimes show the artillery positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 February , 2015 Thanks Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 If you have an interest in a particular artillery brigade, their war diary sometimes gives the trench map coordinates of the different Batteries. But as I have often found to my chagrin, not always! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 February , 2015 I don't have a specific interest. I wanted to get an idea of how far back, targets etc. and how they were positioned in relation to the infantry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 I think that very much depends on the nature of the guns, speed of advance etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 February , 2015 I agree. Due to the need to move guns into position and do ranging etc, an attack would take quite a time to plan. This gave the infantry time to practise an assault. A change of plan during an assault could be made by the infantry but could the artillery make changes as quickly? A map showing trenches and artillery positions would give a better understanding of how the battle plan had been thought through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 If this link works there are a number of barrage maps of the Vimy Ridge barrage, that might give an idea. Click Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 February , 2015 The link works ok but even saving it and then enlarging I still don't understand as I can't see any regiments/ battalions shown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 Sorry johnboy, it's maybe not as good as I thought. If I find will post. Might be worth checking the free Canadian/Australian diaries? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 February , 2015 Not you fault Mike. Perhaps I would be better off looking for schematic drawings showing positions and targets? Looking at the barrage map link that you gave in another thread I can see where possible guns were positioned but not exactly where they were aiming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertBr Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 My post Mars Offensive 28th March 1918 shows artillery positions for a defensive battle, The positions are derived from the War Diaries of the RFA Brigades. Reading the rest of the post will show where the Germans attacked and hence the target areas. It is just one example but I hope it helps. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 February , 2015 Thanks Bob. I will have a good read of it tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 1 February , 2015 Share Posted 1 February , 2015 Are there any maps online that show the position of artillery before or during battles? There seem to loads of trench maps showing positions and objectives for infantry but it would be good to see for instance, where the barrage was fired from, and what other targets there were. Do you mean something along the lines of the map segment illustrated below where the circles represent 18pdr batteries and the triangles represent 4.5in Howitzer batteries ?(other battery types are also shown...60pdr, 4.7in, 9.2in, 12in and 6in howitzers, etc in their various locations too) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 1 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 1 February , 2015 That's the sort of thing Dave, but it would be good to know what each guns target was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 2 February , 2015 Share Posted 2 February , 2015 ...it would be good to know what each guns target was. That would surely vary dependant upon exact date (and even the particular time of day on a particular date). I very much doubt that you'll find much of this type of detail on any contemporary maps to be honest. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianjonesncl Posted 2 February , 2015 Share Posted 2 February , 2015 I have a CD produced by the Western Front Association published in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum entitled General Haigs maps - 1 It shows the location of artillery in the format that Dave has posted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 2 February , 2015 Author Share Posted 2 February , 2015 Thanks for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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